1. Field Of The Invention
The present invention relates generally to the field of dollies or hand trucks, and in a more particular sense, has reference to those devices under this general category, adapted for being collapsed into a compact, readily storable form when not in use.
2. Description Of The Prior Art
Heretofore, it has been proposed to provide dollies or hand trucks, designed for being collapsed into compact forms, to facilitate their storage in small areas.
Devices of this type, however, have heretofore been designed primarily for such uses as transporting luggage, food, or articles of general utility.
An important need has developed, in fire-fighting and rescue squad operations, for transporting hose, fire-fighting tools, oxygen equipment, or the like, at maximum speed, to remote areas of buildings under serious emergency conditions. For example, it is often necessary to transport additional hose to the upper stories of high level buildings during a fire in which there has been an elevator stoppage, to the stand pipe area nearest the fire scene in a high-rise building In other situations, breathing apparatus may be needed in the upper stories of high-rise buildings when dense smoke is encountered.
It has been heretofore proposed to provide wheeled packs of fire-fighting equipment, that a firefighter can pull upstairs or over floor surfaces of great area. However, these have not been entirely satisfactory, by reason of the fact that they cannot be expanded to accommodate additional tools, and very importantly, are not designed specifically for compact storage in the rectangular, pre-existing storage compartments of typical fire-fighting and rescue squad vehicles. Rather, equipment such as has already been devised for this purpose needs to be strapped to the vehicle exteriors, or attached by special brackets. This has presented a continuing problem in the fire-fighting and rescue field, which the present invention seeks to eliminate or reduce to an acceptable minimum.